Aprender una lengua significa estudiar gram\u00e1tica, vocabulario, obtener fluidez al hablar, conocer su cultura\u2026 y manejar expresiones idiom\u00e1ticas propias de esa lengua. Hoy quiero detenerme en algunas, e intentar explicar no solo su\u00a0 significado, sino tambi\u00e9n su origen.<\/p>\n
\u201cMenos lobos, Caperucita.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Usamos esta expresi\u00f3n para referirnos a una persona que exagera de manera clara, llegando incluso a mentir. Tambi\u00e9n si esta persona se intenta dar una importancia que no es real, o no le corresponde.<\/p>\n Inicialmente no hac\u00eda referencia a la conocida ni\u00f1a de caperuza roja, sino que se dec\u00eda\u00a0 menos lobos, t\u00edo Pinto<\/em>. Seg\u00fan la historia popular, Pinto fue el protagonista de la an\u00e9cdota que acu\u00f1\u00f3 esta expresi\u00f3n. La historia cuenta c\u00f3mo un guardia de cortijo sevillano, el t\u00edo Pinto, se jactaba en una taberna de haber visto y espantado \u00e9l solito un centenar de lobos en una ma\u00f1ana de invierno. Ya que los vecinos no fueron muy cr\u00e9dulos, e incluso se burlaron, el t\u00edo Pinto rebaj\u00f3 la cifra a cincuenta. Como las risas segu\u00edan rebaj\u00f3 la cantidad a veinticinco, luego a diez\u2026\u00a0 Los incr\u00e9dulos oyentes le dec\u00edan: \u201cya ser\u00e1n menos lobos, t\u00edo Pinto\u201d, hasta que al fin confes\u00f3 que s\u00f3lo hab\u00eda distinguido con claridad a uno, y adem\u00e1s de lejos.<\/p>\n \u201cBuscarle tres pies al gato\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Buscarle tres pies al gato es una frase hecha que utilizamos cuando alguien\u00a0 pone a prueba nuestra paciencia, con el riesgo de irritarnos. Tambi\u00e9n es usada cuando una persona intenta probar algo que es injustificable, con la consiguiente molestia de quien tiene que escucharlo.<\/p>\n Esta expresi\u00f3n ha sido corrompida por el uso y el tiempo, ya que originalmente se dec\u00eda \u201cbuscarle los cinco pies al gato\u201d, en alusi\u00f3n al intento enga\u00f1oso de hacer creer que la cola del gato era una quinta pata del animal. Con el uso el n\u00famero pas\u00f3 de cinco a tres, as\u00ed lo recoge Cervantes en el Quijote, y as\u00ed a llegado hasta nuestros d\u00edas.<\/p>\n by Daniel Rocal<\/a><\/p>\n To learn a language means to study grammar, vocabulary, to obtain fluency on speaking, to know its culture \u2026 and to handle the idiomatic expressions of this language. Today I want to spend some time on some of them, and to try to explain not only their meaning, but also their origin.<\/p>\n \u201cMenos lobos, Caperucita.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n We use this expression to refer to a person who exaggerates blatantly, even lying. Also if this person tries to show off without merit, or acts in a grandiose way.<\/p>\n Initially it did not refer to the well known girl with a red hood, because the sentence \u00a0was \u201cmenos lobos, tio Pinto<\/em>\u201d. According to the popular story, Pinto was the protagonist of the anecdote which coined this expression. The story tells us how the guard of a Sevillian farmhouse, uncle Pinto, was boasting in a tavern about having seen and scared away single-handedly a hundred wolves during one winter morning. Since the neighbors were not very credulous, and they even joked, uncle Pinto reduced the number to fifty. As the laughs continued,\u00a0 he reduced the pack to twenty-five, then to ten \u2026 The incredulous listeners told him: ” there will be fewer wolves, uncle Pinto “, until he confessed at the end that he had only distinguished one with clarity, and from afar.<\/p>\n \u201cBuscarle tres pies al gato\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cTo look for three feet in a cat\u201d is an idiom that we use when someone tests our patience, with the risk of us getting angry. It is also used when a person tries to prove something that is unjustifiable, with the subsequent inconvenience for those who have to listen to it.<\/p>\n This expression has been corrupted by usage and time, since originally it was “To look for five feet in a cat “, in allusion to the deceitful attempt of making someone believe that the cat’s tail was actually a fifth leg. In time, the number changed from five to three, that is how Cervantes mentions it in Don Quixote, and how it is said \u00a0nowadays.<\/p>\n